Come on Palm. Time to get in the 21st century. We need voice dialing!
Looks like all Pre users in MA might have to switch back to their Razors if this new law goes into effect. It will soon be illegal to dial your phone without a bluetooth headset.

The Massachusetts House passed a measure yesterday that would make this the seventh state to require drivers to use a hands-free device while chatting on their cellphones.
A similar requirement passed the House two years ago, only to die in the Senate because of opposition from lawmakers who argue that the hands-free devices were an inconvenience that did not improve road safety. But David Falcone, a spokesman for Senate President Therese Murray, said she supports requiring hands-free devices and looks forward to reviewing the House bill.

The provision approved in the House yesterday, by a vote of 146 to 9, was part of a package of hotly debated driver safety proposals that have gained momentum in recent days.

The bill also bans drivers from sending text messages from behind the wheel and adds new requirements that drivers over age 75 who renew their licenses do so in person every five years, when they would be required to take a vision test.

Drivers under 18 would be banned entirely from using cellphones while operating a vehicle.

Despite yesterday’s passage, some lawmakers in the two legislative chambers remain divided over how strictly several of the new driving regulations should be crafted, including those affecting older drivers.

Representative Joseph Wagner, cochairman of the Legislature’s Transportation Committee, predicts the two sides will eventually pass a law, pointing out that there is widespread agreement on the core issues.

“We will eliminate texting while driving in the Commonwealth,’’ said Wagner, a Democrat from Chicopee who wore a Bluetooth headset device in his ear while speaking with reporters in the State House. “That’s the most important component.’’

Massachusetts would join 19 states, plus the District of Columbia, in banning text messaging while driving.

Many of the lawmakers who favor a hands-free requirement said they supported that at least in part because it may otherwise be difficult to enforce a texting ban, since police officers may not know whether a driver is handling a cellphone to place a call or send a message.

“No one should be driving on our public roadways while holding a cellphone,’’ said Representative Denise Provost, a Somerville Democrat. “Looking at one’s cellphone, opening one’s cellphone, or punching numbers or buttons on a cellphone is as distracting as texting and indistinguishable from it.’’

No one spoke against the requirement during yesterday’s debate, but opponents have pointed to research suggesting that the danger and distraction of talking on a cellphone while driving is not reduced by the use of a hands-free device.

Yesterday’s bill would penalize drivers who text or talk without using a hands-free device with a fine of $100 for the first offense, $250 for a second, and $500 for a third.

If you are pulled over for texting while driving... would claiming you were just browsing the web at high speeds get you out of the fine? A couple quick swipes would remove any recent texts which you could show Dudley Do-Right.

I think the idea of the law is a good thing and it will better protect society as a whole. I also feel technology can go a lot further (in terms of features) to help with the problem. Having phones that could send a "I'm driving" response to callers and texters would be a great help. Having an easy and automatic way of telling the phone which occupant is the driver would also greatly help with the preceding idea. If all cars had standardized or built in "phone docks" or carkits as standard equipment, then the phone could recognize who the driver is. My point here (which somewhat agrees with the OP) is that technology should help adress this problem in a way that makes it easy and effortless for people to do the right thing.

If you are pulled over for texting while driving... would claiming you were just browsing the web at high speeds get you out of the fine? A couple quick swipes would remove any recent texts which you could show Dudley Do-Right.

No, the full law (here in Canada at least) defines it to be illegal to be fiddling with any handheld electronics while driving, it's not just a text messaging law. That means they could nail you even if you were changing songs on a portable MP3 player.. Heck they might be able to nail you if you're fiddling with a GPS navigator that's suction-cup attached to your windshield while you're driving.

Sorry, No overreaction here. Here's another news story in more plain English for you.
BOSTON ó The use of cell phones by Massachusetts drivers would be severely restricted under an amendment approved today by House lawmakers.

The proposal would ban drivers from using any kind of cell phones except hands-free models with voice-activated dialing.

"It is impossible to be dialing a phone and watching the road at the same time," said Rep. Jay R. Kaufman, D-Lexington, the billís sponsor.

The amendment, approved on a 91-66 vote, was attached to a bill designed to crack down on distracted drivers and toughen oversight of older motorists. The House was expected to vote on the bill later Thursday. The Senate has yet to debate the bill.

Also sorry to Nordic that my 1st post wasn't up to your standards. You might want to get that cough checked out by a Dr. There are pills that can clear that up.

What's next? Ban in-car eating and putting on make-up, changing CD's, picking your nose and looking at the results? Require HUD's in all vehicles so your eyes never leave the road? All these laws do, is cheat Darwin.

This is no overreaction. All of you can yell all you want, marijuana should be legal, whatever. Fact is the law is the law. You will get arrested. In this instance, there is plenty of justification to not have people fumbling with their phones to make calls and voice activated dialing be important.

I agree that we need Voice Dialing on Pre Plus. They should make it a priority based on the number of states with the law AND based on the fact that it's safer for drivers. Here in Connecticut, we have the law but it doesn't stop people from talking on the phone while driving. Some people are almost arrogant about it.

This is no overreaction. All of you can yell all you want, marijuana should be legal, whatever. Fact is the law is the law. You will get arrested. In this instance, there is plenty of justification to not have people fumbling with their phones to make calls and voice activated dialing be important.

This is no overreaction. All of you can yell all you want, marijuana should be legal, whatever. Fact is the law is the law. You will get arrested. In this instance, there is plenty of justification to not have people fumbling with their phones to make calls and voice activated dialing be important.

just cause it law does not make it right. You should read why these thing are coming up instead of being complacent about them.

here in austin it's a 500 dollar fine. This is also covered under wreckless driving and laws are not solutions. We outlawed murder...yet it still happens. England outlawed gun....now only the criminals have them.

in short....breaking the law is not allways wrong. But if there were no more laws to make congress would be out of the job

i could be wrong about what i am going to say, and i'm not arguing that the Pre should support voice dialing (even though i personally think it's a bit of a pain and can't help but laugh when i watch people try four times to get the damn thing to call who they want...), but i believe with the proper headset you can do voice dialing.

at least, i remember seeing someone on here saying that it worked with the one they had, becuase they headset did it based on the phones contacts. (like i said, i could be off on this)

As I understand the new hands-free law here in B.C., only one touch hands-free use is allowed. You can take a call if all you have to do is push one button and you can make a call if all you have to do is push one button. If you need to fiddle with more than one button or need to hold the device in your hand, it is illegal. Taking a call with a bluetooth is easy. Making one is more difficult unless you have the ability to voice dial built into the phone or handsfree unit.

Admittedly, it will probably not be the easiest law to enforce, although since the law went into effect, a bunch of drivers have been ticketed. Too many twits steering with their elbows while they are twittering.

Palm is kind of stupid not to build in voice dialing in their phones. It is no wonder that Palm went from #1 in PDA's and a smart phone leader to basically last place in recent years. My cheap LG had voice dialing 6 years ago. With my Treo, I had to add it with third party software (which BTW works very well, no training required, but I have to use the wired stereo headset). Not sure what the deal is with their new WebOS phones with respect to voice dialing and a few other features that I require, eg. more powerful calendar, PIM. That is why I am sitting on the fence and staying with my Treo until I see what develops with the WebOS phones in terms of supported features and market share. I don't want to be stuck with a BetaMax.

The troll comment was unnecessary, you palm brats kill me. The simple fact of the matter is, we should have voice controls by now. And I imagine like other things it will come. Like the long overdue video recorded we're getting, another ancient feature just being added. Anyway, most of the close calls on my motorcycle are from people playing with they're phones, driving. Of course, our gloves have hard plastic knuckles on them, which are great for punching mirrors right off. I dont use a headset, but several of my OLD OLDER phones had voice controls, which i used in traffic pretty often.